Gatwick flights suspended after reports of drones over runway

[NorWiscPilot]

Disgraceful, worrying proposals, if not entirely unexpected... I think they are the 2nd council I have heard of that are trying to do this. I would encourage anyone here in that area to get down to council meetings and get their voice heard asap. I'd offer a demonstration session as well, so that councillors can hear for themselves how little of an annoyance they are, and how little privacy is threatened by people appearing 3 pixels high in the footage ! I might also repost this on the MavicPilots forum as they have a much bigger membership, and probably more members locally.

Attend as many meetings as possible, if nothing else than to keep reminding the policy makers to keep “looking for the facts” rather than succumbing to unsubstantiated media sensationalism.

Do our elected and appointed officials really want to their legacy to be attached to legislation like the following:

“...in response to issues unrelated to drone activity at [insert location/facility] we are restricting the use of drones in our community.”

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Posted in another forum by one of its members that lives near there.

"Actually Coventry is banning drones from council owned parks and land not from the whole city as the title of the thread suggests. I understand that other councils have also done the same worldwide so it is a sign of things to come. Flying in some parks would not comply with the CAA regulations anyway due to there proximity to housing and people. It is difficult not to over fly people in a public park. "

 

[PatR]

Sounds like the intended goal of the airport shut down was accomplished. Banning drones will be called an action performed in response to fears of and extreme pressure from the public. Public relations in reverse. Happens quite frequently in government.

 

[PatR]

More on this subject from sUAS News. Hard to disagree with them.

Gatwick - A Vacuum of Silence - sUAS News - The Business of Drones

 

[thoneter]

If it was industrial sized drones, there can’t be that many owners/operators from which to contact. Truly makes one wonder if the government is doing it to pad its case for even more and tighter restrictions on sUAS operators.

It is rather odd there is only one night time video and it doesn’t show squat.

I do feel for those stranded and put out by the closing of Gatwick. Airports are not conducive to comfort and pleasantries after being there just a few hours, much less many hours or days. Hoping for a swift end to this ballyhoo.

If they are caught and convicted jail is inappropriate. They should be strung up spread eagle in public and have their drone launched into their unmentionables.

Isn't it more likely that this is someone who built their own industrial drone? Wonder if someone with a great deal of experience could use these to extort $ like a hacker? I doubt it's an idiot with nothing better to do.

 

[thoneter]

I will try to stay on topic by discussing the actual article.

From the airport personnel to the prime minister; from the general public to the British Airline Pilots Association... references are being made to stricter laws already put in place, tighter restrictions are needed, etc. The Pilots Association calling for a wider no fly zone mandate.

What seems to be missing from the conversation here is one glaring observation: this incident is being considered "a deliberate act to shut down airport operations..."

If this is true, no amount of regulations, restrictions, certifications, banning the use of, et al is going to make any difference to anyone with the resources to carry out something like this. If someone or some "group" is determined to carry out acts like that being portrayed in the article, they are going to do it.

Remind anyone of any other similar topics - something happens and everyone demands tighter controls? The old adage "laws are for law abiding citizens" applies to unmanned aerial operations as well. Outlaws don't care about laws.

My hope, aside from the truth coming out about the Gatwick incident, is that civil discussions will continue, including how law abiding citizens (pilots) are already keeping their airspace safe. It is the ones who feel the laws do not apply to them that will continue to endanger the safe and cooperative use of the skies.

Best wishes to all affected by the situation being discussed. Hopefully a swift resolution will be forthcoming if not already done so.

Jeff

I agree Jeff, the gov't and many of the people are ready to shut down us drone fliers because that will stop nutbags from purposely flying into the glidepaths of the airports.

This is just like the gun control fanatics. You like scary guns, scary guns kill school kids therefore you like killing school kids.

You like scary drones, drones take down airplanes therefore you like taking down airplanes.

I hope we all get woken up as to what's coming down the pike politically for everyone everywhere!

 

[thoneter]

It seems that there were over 50 sightings of the drone(s). And I believe the airport is closed again. As to how to tackle this issue, maybe the UK should follow the Dutch and used trained birds of prey to catch the drones - a small environmental benefit at least.

You don't dare to use birds of prey to take down drones, we need to protect them at any cost unless we put up large bird killing devices in the form of wind generators to make us feel good about green energy!

 

[thoneter]

Politicians don’t become multi-millionaires on their salaries.

News articles I read last night indicated two were arrested, but not charged. That seems a little odd to me, although it can be done. In this country (U.S.) you can be held for 72 hours or so before a charge has to be assigned, unless it’s terror related in which case you just disappear incommunicado until they let you surface.

Assuming for a moment that active operation of drones in the airport environment was a reality and not a smokescreen for another cause, where are the drones? Again using this country as an example our LEA’s are like fisherman and hunters when they make a big bust; they love to show off their kill or catch. If they don’t provide pictures of the purps they most certainly publish pictures of the drugs, weapons, or cash seized for evidence. I would expect to see a couple of suspect drones and the operating equipment sitting in front of a podium at a gathering of the press for public dissemination. Without hard evidence and names of suspects the story still stinks to me.

Regarding the operating distance we should recognize 4 miles is not difficult to achieve as one manufacturer prides themselves on their extended range capability and that many buy their stuff for that reason. YouTube has a great many videos that establish many people operate well beyond line of sight, either through FPV or by building and executing flight plans to automate a flight. So a 4 mile distance is plausible.

Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 13 months after streaming a Facebook Live outside a court in the UK. He was not allowed any visitors and those that tried to visit him were also jailed.

The gov't and police in Europe are headed towards 1984. The fact that they let them go says a lot. I can't believe they haven't got the EMF cannons ready to take these things down.

 

[thoneter]

People are lazy, gullible, generally followers and want to be led. They’ve come to believe what they read or hear in the news is true without having anything to support what they were told. Tell them the same thing often enough and it becomes “true” even if it started as a lie. It’s how billions of people are able to be ruled by only a few thousand. Orson Wells caused a nation wide panic all by himself.

Is what ur saying really true?

 

[thoneter]

If a lie & truth were told simultaneously; the lie would travel the globe 10 Fold before the Truth completed once. People feed on gossip, fear, panic, anger and pain... lies manipulate the public and people eargerly accept a lie and question the truth. Political agenda is to trigger the lies to obtain the objective not reachable with truth and the art of deception to continue the lies while the truth fades.

The lack of logic & fact within this airport ordeal will fade and the essence of drones equating to anger & danger will be all that’s carried forward to the voters.

Now the ? is Doug, do I need to tell your post 10 times or just once?

 

[thoneter]

Mmmmm. Police all over the place, with helicopters that have infra-red cameras, the worlds TV broadcasters there with broadcast quality TV cameras, no pictures other than some low quality stills and couple of blurry video's probably hijacked from YouTube..... Was it PatR who said. "How many holes do you have to have in a bucket before it'll hold no water".

Let's see some proper pictures of this supposedly crashed drone that they've found! Please. I said please......

And the most important thing of all that the fake news networks would never sensationalize this event to get more viewers. Gotta love present day journalism or is it "Op-Ed"?

 

[Dougcjohn]

Now the ? is Doug, do I need to tell your post 10 times or just once?

Tough one... in my opinion it's truth... guess it's interpretation and those in disagreement would find it lie. Actually it's neither... it'll travel itself based on the rumor factor.

 

[thoneter]

For the moment we might establish some "qualifiers". I doubt anyone can effectively dispute them.

• Government is corrupt
• All politicians are corrupt
• Absolute power corrupts absolutely
• Money buys power and "access"
• Power provides the ability to do things that violate ethics and morals with impunity
• Corporations are greedy and seek power
• Corporations corrupt politicians and government
• Corporations essentially "own" government and use government to further their business interests
• When faced with the prospect of making a decision to "do the right thing" or maintain their employment most will choose continued employment.
• Law enforcement and military agencies require their members to follow orders regardless of the legality of the order
• The rights of citizens are routinely violated by government entities

The following link takes things a wee bit into "out there" but provides some additional "foundation" for what will to follow later. Take your time to read and digest all of it. It's part of the reason ZTE and Huawei products are being prevented from being used in government services.
Beijing’s New National Intelligence Law: From Defense to Offense

Now I get to start thinking about how I want to lay out the scenario. Please allow me a little time as there are "honeydo's" that need to get handled first. I can deal with impatient or inquisitive forum members but an angry wife is unbearable...

I knew I like you for some reason. Well put!

 

[thoneter]

And who’s fault is that? After years of multirotor operations we still haven’t banded together to form an organization of multirotor operators. If we don’t care, why should anyone else?

I agree but it's going to take a conjoined effort of all drone fliers, AMA, etcetera and then a large group of lawyers to fight this mega train coming down the tracks.

 

[thoneter]

Oh deary deary me. Whilst I agree with you on the police workload thing, you are sadly deluded if you think for one micro second that if the police are given new powers, that they won't abuse it. I hope that you're right and when the plod do turn up on your're doorstep because some bizzy-body has reported you for flying in a way that they didn't like is understanding. The couple from Crawly that were arrested were completely innocent. Some bizzy body neighbour reported them to the plod and with just a Facebook post to go on the rozzers had them in chokey for 36 hours and ruined their Christmas! Just imagine what would have happened if they didn't have people that could vouch for their whereabouts at the time. They'd likely still be in chokey now......!

I completely agree. I have flown for the local police dept to find juveniles that escape from the juvy facility and hide in the corn fields.

They are so appreciative but I get one complaint from my neighbors that my commercial pay for hire vehicle is registered in the wrong state and I literally have the DOT, highway patrol crimes division, DMV commercial, DPS and highway patrol commercial division coming after me for 4 misdemeanors and 1 felony. Never mind that they are completely ignoring the appropriate statutes that allow me to declare my base state.

The powers that be will always gravitate towards more money and more power!

 

[thoneter]

Thus far I find the Gatwick incident to be an awful lot like how the media is being used to shape public opinion over here. No truth, no facts, no evidence, lots of fictional garbage, yet the public assumes the info they are being inundated with is sufficient to adopt a negative stance due to their own stupidity.

I think it was a black hole from a different dimension that brought those alien drones in and then mysteriously sucked them back into their originating dimension! That's what Don Lemmon told me!

 

[PatR]

I knew I like you for some reason. Well put!

Don’t start thinking we’re going to be taking any warm showers together[emoji37]

 

[thetrecker]

Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 13 months after streaming a Facebook Live outside a court in the UK. He was not allowed any visitors and those that tried to visit him were also jailed.

The gov't and police in Europe are headed towards 1984. The fact that they let them go says a lot. I can't believe they haven't got the EMF cannons ready to take these things down.

Tommy Robinson is not a very good example it was an court ordered black out so as not to influence the court proceedings happens all the time he broke the law

 

[thoneter]

Don’t start thinking we’re going to be taking any warm showers together[emoji37]

Only drone on drone cold showers????

 

[thoneter]

Tommy Robinson is not a very good example it was an court ordered black out so as not to influence the court proceedings happens all the time he broke the law

The law was put in place to silence any opposition to Sharia law and no go zones. The right to people to have free speech may only be a US thing but as soon as the people are silenced, downtrodden, etcetera then the elites are in control. This is what happened with Tommy. The law was put in place so that no news of the Sharia take over could come to light and the police, public and the gov't were complacent sheep. I'll take a Tommy Robinson any day to the present state of the gov't in Europe or the US.